Clean Eating Meal Plans

Have you ever woken up in the morning, spent 30 minutes preparing a healthy, well balanced breakfast for your child, only to have them refuse to eat it? Or take one bite and say they’re full?

This happens to me on a weekly basis! Sometimes it seems like the harder I try, the less my children like the food I make. I finally got tired of wasting precious food and time, so I reached out to my fellow moms to see what recipes they had for healthy breakfasts for kids. And let me tell you — they didn’t disappoint!

Below are 44 healthy breakfasts for kids that will help you fill your child’s belly with lots of good nutrition!

If you’re looking for a recipe for Clean Eating Banana Muffins you’ve found it!

Like most kids, my kids love all things sweet. It can be challenging selecting foods for them, because there is SO MUCH processed foods in grocery stores. I have a rule that we don’t purchase anything with artificial flavors, colors, or high fructose corn syrup. This rules out a large majority of the foods in the snack isle.

My daughter still wants to try the packaged snacks, so I always remind her that we can make anything she sees at the store. 🙂

One of her favorite homemade treats is clean eating banana muffins. They satisfy her sweet tooth, while satisfying my desire to feed her real food.

Clean Eating Banana Muffins

Here is how I make muffins for my family. They’re sweetened with bananas and maple syrup. They make a great breakfast, snack, or side for a lunchbox.

I prefer to make mini muffins, as they seem to be easily manageable for my 2-year-old. I’ve included instructions on baking time for both mini and regular muffins.

As an obsessive Pinterester and curious cook, I have been drooling over Instant Pot recipes for the last couple years. Even though I had pinned a thousand recipes, I never tried any Instant Pot recipes until my boyfriend let me borrow his Instant Pot.

And then, my world changed.

Sure, that’s a bit dramatic, but I had never before been able to cook an entire bag of pinto beans in 45 minutes. The Instant Pot is incredible!

Since then my boyfriend and I moved in together and we “co-own” an Instant Pot (<– according to me, anyway), so we get to make Clean Eating Instant Pot recipes on the reg! Luckily for me, I have a few amazing blogger friends who are incredible cooks with clean ingredients, so there is a big pool of recipes to try!

If you’ve been looking for Clean Eating Instant Pot Recipes, this is the perfect post for you! Check out all of the delicious recipes below 🙂

Have you been wanting to eat clean, but aren’t sure where to start? This is everything you’ll need to plan a week’s worth of clean eating!

It is my last day of winter break before I return to work, so I wanted to share another week’s worth of free clean eating meal plans for you! I have received so much positive feedback on the last 3 clean eating meal plans, and I am thrilled you guys are loving these plans.

It is a new year, and I know many people are looking to lose weight, eat healthier, and feel better.

I’m right there with you! I am personally, not a fan of “diets”, however. I tend to think there are easier ways of losing weight than the morning shake substitution plans, or expensive subscriptions to weight watchers. And hey, if those work for you, that’s great!

My approach is to eat well balanced meals that reduce processed foods in my diet. I combine that with daily exercise and find that is an easy and sustainable way to find a healthy weight for myself.

Today, I am providing another clean eating meal plan, completely free, for you to download and print. Scroll to the bottom of this post to find clean eating meal plans for week 1 – 3.

Affiliate links provided for convenience, and to help support this blog.

What is Clean Eating

I have a pretty liberal definition of clean eating. My interpretation is to try to eat food as close to its natural state as possible. This means reducing processed foods, eating lots of fresh vegetables and fruit, lean meats, and whole grains. I do have a few items in these meal plans that some will not consider “clean eating”, such as whole wheat bread.

So many of us are time-crunched, so I do make some allowances for a few store bought items. I make sure to read the ingredient list, and won’t buy bread that has sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or artificial flavors. If you want to bake your own bread for this meal plan, that is great! If you want to sub in different ingredients, go for it! This is a general guideline to get you started on eating a cleaner, less processed diet.

More Clean Eating Meal Plans

All of my clean eating meal plans are completely free! I created them for you to have an easy way to eat healthier, delicious meals. 🙂

If you’re new here, let’s go over a few basics.

What is Clean Eating

Clean eating varies, depending upon who you’re asking, but to me, clean eating means eating food that is as close to its natural state as possible. This means creating most of your food from scratch. Sound intimidating? It isn’t! It just takes a little practice, then it becomes second nature!

However, I’m a mom of two kids and have an 8-5 job, so I don’t have time to make everything from scratch! I do buy premade breads, pastas and condiments when the amount of time to create it isn’t feasible for my schedule. When I buy already-made foods, I have a few rules. I do not buy any foods that have:

Food dyes

Artificial flavors

High Fructose Corn Syrup

GMOs

If you are new to clean eating, it is important to start reading labels. If you don’t recognize most of the ingredients, put it back on the shelf. Food should be made with ingredients you recognize. Another good rule of thumb is to not buy products that contain more than 5 ingredients.

Is Clean Eating a Diet?

I have been asked if you can lose weight while on a clean eating diet. And the answer is, probably… but the intent of eating clean isn’t really to lose weight. I eat clean because I want less crap in my body. My body doesn’t have any idea what to do with preservatives, food dyes, or artificial ingredients. It wasn’t created to process food with synthetic ingredients.

I eat clean because real, wholesome food is fuel that keeps my body operating as efficiently as possible.

When our bodies are well nourished, the feel great!

Will you lose weight? Probably, depending on what your current diet consists of. It also depends on the quantity of food you eat. To get an idea of a healthy meal portion, check out Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate & Pyramid.

When you fill your daily diet with wholesome fruits, veggies, whole grains, and lean meats, you can naturally cut calories (without having to count them). Many people I have encountered will gravitate to a natural, healthy weight while enjoying a clean eating diet.

Perhaps the most important rule of eating clean is that the food TASTES GOOD!

I love food.

A warm, home cooked meal fills my soul with happiness.

I buy whole milk, real butter, and drink wine (in moderation). Low-calorie and reduced-fat, to me, makes me wonder what process a food has been through, or what artificial additives have been added to make it taste like real food.

Clean Eating Menu Plan Week 3

Here is my third week of clean eating meal plans. The menu plan is designed for an individual, and the dinner recipes are enough for 4 servings.

You can download and print the PDF version of this menu plan for free, here or click on any image below.

I hope you enjoy this ! I hope it clean eating menu plan inspires you to start your family on a path towards healthier eating. Check back next month, or follow me on Facebook, to get notified when the next menu plan is up!

Quick disclosure! This article covers what does clean eating mean. I LOVE food, am passionate about eating clean, and I have read up on clean eating a lot over the past 4ish years. BUT, I am by no means an expert. I do not hold a medical degree (I did not care for Biology 101), and am not qualified to give out medical advice. Consider this my opinion only 🙂 If you have any specific questions regarding your health, please check with a qualified medical professional.

Over the past few years, you may have seen more and more recipes and foods labeled “clean eating”, and if you haven’t taken the plunge into clean eating, you may be wondering what clean eating means. The truth is, the definition and meaning will vary from person to person!

What Does Clean Eating Mean?

In a nutshell, clean eating means eating food that is as close to its original state, as possible. Think of picking an apple off a tree, digging a potato out of the ground, or roasting sunflowers seeds picked right off the flower. The less altered a food is, the “cleaner” it is. Of course, we don’t all have lakes of fish, or chickens laying eggs in our backyard, so to put clean eating into practical terms, I want to cover a few popular clean eating concepts.

Weston A Price

On one end of the spectrum is Weston A Price, which has published a list of dietary guidelines that is comprehensive and well researched. These guidelines includes eating meat from pasture-fed animals, drinking full-fat milk products (also from pasture-fed cows), organic fruits and veggies, homemade bone broths, and even specifying the use of stainless steel, cast iron or glass for cooking. I tried to follow those guidelines for a while, but found them to be quite rigorous and challenging for me, since I was juggling kids and a full time job. It is a great guideline, but it’s intense.

100 Days of Real Food

My first exposure to clean eating, or “real food” was on 100DaysofRealFood. I found her website to be a great resource, and still visit it weekly. Her view of real food is approachable and easy to understand. Her rules (or guidelines) include whole foods, lots of fresh fruits and veggies, whole dairy products, and even allows for wine (maybe that’s why I like her so much!). She also has a ton of recipes on her website.

My Approach to Clean Eating

My view of clean eating is probably the most lenient, which I think is a great place to start, especially if you’re new to eating clean. If you have been living on a standard american diet (SAD) for all your life, it is unlikely that you’re going to go from eating McDonalds everyday to eating wild fresh caught salmon, cooked in a specific type of pan, with a side of organic quinoa. I mean, great if you can do that! But I find that little changes at a time build on each other, and are generally more sustainable.

So, you’re ready to start eating clean. Now what?

First, let’s see what a typical plate looks like. For this, we’ll check in with the experts. The USDA is moving away from the food pyramid, and is now recommending individuals strive to eat a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy. Of course, this may not be the perfect fit for everyone, especially with food allergies or intolerance, but it is recommended for the general public. According to the USDA, a typical adult’s plate should look like this:

Here are my general guidelines to clean eating:

Eat lots of vegetables and fruits. Organic when possible. Fresh is best, frozen is the next best thing to fresh, and canned as a last resort. Buy and eat produce that is in season.

Eat meat in moderation and nix the processed meats. Beef, chicken, pork and seafood that can be baked, slow cooked or grilled. Stay away from processed meats, like lunch meat and bacon, except for special occasions. Grass-fed animals are a better option, when available and within budget.

Eat Whole Grains – the technical definition of a whole grain is a grain that contains all three parts of the kernal: the bran, germ and endosperm. Eating grains in their whole state ensures you receive optimimum nutrition. Some of the most common whole grains include wheat, rye, oats, wild rice, and quinoa. For a complete list of whole grains, go here.

Drink Good Drinks – Basically, I drink coffee and tea in moderation, and I drink mostly water. I stay away from sodas, juices, vitamin waters, etc. I also drink red wine in moderation.

It’s Okay to Cheat – No one is perfect. Do the best you can. Make good choices most of the time, and don’t feel guilty when you have an occasional splurge!

I have sooo much more to share on this topic, but I am going to break it up into segments! Next week, I will share some buzz words in the clean eating world, to get a better handle on why you’re paying a premium for cage-free eggs at the grocery store.

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All material on this website is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. Posts may contain affiliate links, which helps me buy supplies to make more great posts to share! Please see my Disclaimer Section for additional information.